Occidental Will Buy Citigroup's Phibro Unit

Occidental Petroleum will buy Citigroup's oil and gas trading unit Phibro for $250 million, the companies said Friday

Citigroup Inc. has come under fire for the hefty 2009 pay package for Andrew J. Hall, the leader at Phibro.

Occidental said Phibro's management team, including Hall, will stay with the company. The executives agreed to make a "significant" investment in Phibro with returns on those investments tied to company performance. The company also noted that parts of current and future bonuses for the management team will be retained by Phibro and paid later.

Phibro has been profitable each fiscal year since 1997, making about $200 million per year in pretax earnings from 1997 to 2009, Occidental said.

The sale consists of cash, marketable securities and commodity positions. The sale is expected to close by the end of the year.